I’ve always thought there’s nothing more satisfying than growing and eating your own veges. 

And new potatoes are at the top of my list over summer. If you’re like me and want to ensure your crop is ready for Christmas lunch, you need to get onto it right now.

Depending on which variety of potato you choose, you’ll harvest your spuds in 90 – 160 days. If you want to do all your planting at once, I suggest using a combination of potato varieties to gain a staggered harvest over summer.

Planting certified seed potatoes is your best chance at growing a healthy abundant crop. I don’t recommend supermarket potatoes - these are often treated with sprout inhibitors, and prone to disease. You can buy Tui certified seed potatoes at the Awapuni Nurseries online shop and have them delivered directly to your door.

If you’re new to growing seed potatoes, the number of varieties out there can be a bit daunting. Here are four kiwi favourites I’ve picked to help get you started.

Cliff kidney is a fast-growing variety (three months) and great for containers. It has a slightly pink skin, with a firm and waxy feel - so good for boiling.  Agria and IIlam Hardy varieties both take around four months to grow and again, are both suitable for container growing or planting in your garden. Agria is a yellow, oval-shaped potato – also ideal for boiling. And Ilam Hardy is a rounder and white-fleshed, all-purpose spud.

Lastly, Summer delight is a creamy yellow spud that takes around five months to mature. You can use it for most types of cooking. And it’s got a high rot resistance, so a good option to try if you’ve had problems with rot in the past.

Whichever variety you plant, try to vary your potato locations in the garden from year to year. And to further reduce the risk of disease, don’t plant them where you grew your tomatoes last year either. This is because they are both susceptible to the same types of fungus and diseases - which can linger in the soil.

Now you’ve selected your varieties, you need to make sure they’ve spouted before you can plant them. Take the seed-potatoes out of their bag, and place in a light and airy space to sprout – but not in direct sun. Try placing in an open egg carton and wait for the sprouts to reach 2-4cm high. This takes a few weeks, leaving you plenty of time to get your vege plots or containers sorted.

To prepare your garden, turn over old soil and remove any old clumpy vege roots, then dig through manure or compost if needed. Scatter some Tui potato food, really mixing it through the soil. This will help you grow high yielding, quality potatoes. Next, dig your potato trench (furrow), about 10cm deep and 45 cm apart, if you’re planting a second row.

Place the sprouted seed potatoes 25cm apart, shoots facing upwards and cover with 5cm of soil. Give an initial watering, but after this, they should be fine with a little bit of rain. Then each week add a bit more soil to cover over any new shoots until you’ve got a mound around 20cm high.

If you’re short on ground space, try growing your spuds in containers. You can grab a potato planter bag with a side harvesting window, from most garden centres. But really any old bucket will do just fine, as long as it has adequate drainage holes. Simply add a base layer of soil (10cms) and a sprinkling of potato food. Place two-three potatoes per container and cover with another layer of soil (5cm). Similarly, to your garden crop, keep mounding up the soil as shoots come through. Continue with this right until you reach the top of your container.

In three to five months, depending on variety, it’ll be time to harvest. You can look for signs of the plant flowers dying off, but I like to just get in and have a gentle dig around to see what’s there. If they’re too small for your liking, re-cover for another few weeks – and re-brand them as New Year potatoes instead!